Trenton voters will decide on mandatory paid sick leave in November ballot question

TRENTON — It will be up to Trenton voters to decide if they want the city to require private businesses to pay employees for sick days.

At a special council meeting tonight, City Council voted to suspend indefinitely consideration of an ordinance for paid sick days and in favor of instructing the Mercer County Board of Elections to arrange for a referendum on the issue in the scheduled election on Nov. 4.

There is currently no state or federal law mandating that companies give their employees paid sick leave, though many employers do provide it as a benefit. Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto has said he will take up the issue of enacting a statewide law mandating sick pay when the Legislature reconvenes in September.

Council expressed support for legislative action in a resolution tonight, but decided to move ahead with the referendum on sick pay anyway, which drew mixed reactions from the local business community. Some business people said they are struggling and cannot afford to give their employees such a benefit, while others were supportive.

“We should be looking to show people we are open for business, not looking to put people out of business,” said Tracey Syphax, owner of Capitol City Contracting, an opponent of the move.

City Clerk Richard Kachmar said the council called the special meeting because the deadline for the question to make it on the ballot is at the end of this week.

He added that his office advertised a public hearing on the issue for the next regular council meeting on Sept. 4, but it will be up to council members to decide if they want to consider the issue at that time.

Council members Alex Bethea, Marge Caldwell-Wilson, Duncan Harrision, Zachary Chester and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson voted unanimously to have the issue placed on the ballot. Council members Phyllis Holly-Ward and George Muschal were absent from the meeting.

The issue was brought to council by a coalition of activist groups led by NJ Working Families Alliance, which collected more than 2,200 signatures from Trenton voters and petitioned the city to consider the measure. Council was required to consider the ordinance within 20 days.

Members of the coalition — which includes members from New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Time to Care Coalition and New Jersey Communities United — hand-delivered the signatures to Mayor Eric Jackson earlier this month. The coalition has also sought to get the measure on the ballot in Irvington, Montclair, Passaic, Paterson.

As proposed, the city ordinances would allow workers to earn one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked. In businesses with 10 or more employees, five paid sick days can be earned per year. For those with fewer than 10 employees, workers would be eligible to earn three paid sick days each year.

The ordinance would not change anything for employers that offer better benefits packages or for employees operating under collective bargaining agreements. The sick days could be used for employees to care for themselves or members of their immediate families.

Syphax, who also owns the real estate development firm The Phax Group, said times are tough for the businesses that have stayed in Trenton and more requirements will only drive business away.

Syphax said his own business is experiencing tough times and he has had to lay off three people in recent weeks.

“I don’t need nobody who doesn’t have to make payroll every Friday to tell me how to run my business,” he said.

“It is easy for me to pack my bag to Hamilton,” Syphax said. “Hamilton doesn’t have (this requirement). It is five minutes away.”

But Jacob Dormevil Sr. said he is glad to do business in Trenton, and would welcome the paid sick days requirement. Dormevil is set to open his sandwich shop “Knuckle Sandwich” early next month.

“I look forward to hiring the eligible citizens of this city,” Dormevil said. “I am excited to be doing business here.”

Trenton resident Shirley Newell said she supports the sick days because from her experience working in food service in the city schools, when an employee comes to work sick he or she can spread germs and infect others; and, conversely, a child sometimes comes to school sick because their parent cannot take off to care for them.

“If we have the time to do what we need to do then it would make the environment safer,” she said.

Rafael Valentin, a former city council candidate who was speaking on behalf of the Mercer County Latino Merchant’s Association, John Harmon of the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, and Robert Prunetti of the MidJersey Chamber of Commerce have all come out against the measure saying it will drive away business at a time when Trenton is desperate to attract them.

“We want to expand the economic base in the city and don’t send a red flag out there that is, ‘Let’s not do business in Trenton,’” Valentin said.